


Familial Approval

by viklikesfic (v_angelique)



Category: Marvel Cinematic Universe, The Avengers (Marvel Movies)
Genre: Artificial Intelligence, Caretaking, Disability, Gen, JARVIS Is Pro Disability Rights, JARVIS Is a Good Wingman, PTSD, Philosophical Discussions, Triggers
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-03-18
Updated: 2021-03-18
Packaged: 2021-03-27 01:33:43
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,558
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/30115104
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/v_angelique/pseuds/viklikesfic
Summary: (Read the notes if you're subscribed / a regular reader and haven't seen my New Year's message!)When he can’t sleep, Bucky starts conversations with JARVIS. They’re usually philosophical. One night, his mind fogged thick with trauma, he asks JARVIS what JARVIS thinks makes a human. Bucky’s tone is flat and lifeless, and he notices that JARVIS modulates his own tone in response, matching Bucky’s with less variance in pitch. He appreciates it.
Relationships: Implied James "Bucky" Barnes & Tony Stark, James "Bucky" Barnes & Jarvis (Iron Man movies)
Comments: 6
Kudos: 48
Collections: STB Bingo: Round One





	Familial Approval

**Author's Note:**

> Written for the STB Bingo square, Superfamily. Yes, in my mind, JARVIS is a goddamned superhero. Also, the pairing is Tony/Bucky, but it’s explored through a conversation between Bucky and JARVIS rather than directly. No real sexual CWs for this one—humiliation is mentioned, very briefly, but no more than suggesting it might be someone’s kink without any detail. CWs for character being PTSD triggered / mildly dissociating and heavily depersonalizing, discussion of trauma and violence.
> 
> And because I posted a New Year’s note on a fic that’s pretty extreme and a lot of my regular readers may have skipped that one, reposting that note here for you (the career pivot I mention just started two weeks ago!):  
> This has been such a lovely year in fanfic life, readers! Between Discords and getting at least a _little_ more engaged in responding to your comments quicker, I feel like we’ve been through this 2020 gauntlet together. I didn’t get a chance to find queer community in my new city, and it was hard to suddenly have a sex drive for the first time in a couple of years during a pandemic, but I ended up dumping a bunch of it into writing porn, and y’all did not disappoint with your feedback. ❤️I was reflecting on what writing in fandom means to me, and honestly I feel like I'm the Oprah of new kinks sometimes with my writing. You get a new kink! And you get a new kink! ...honestly maybe this is its own kink? Kink distribution fairy. If I gave you a new (fic or otherwise) kink this year, you’re welcome-slash-I’m sorry? 😀
> 
> My “porn Patreon” will launch in 2021, as I’m leaving my ten-year career (gasp) to write and do intuitive counseling/tarot reading full time. There you’ll have the opportunity to give input on what I write, see some early previews, and read original fiction in addition to fanfic. I kind of feel like I need to have some kind of “Ask Vik” column there for folks who accidentally liked a kink they didn’t expect to ask questions about it (or for some more fic with it), LOL. Would folks be interested in that?  
> As a reminder, you can follow me on Twitter @viklikesfic and I’ll let you know as soon as that Patreon is live. Happy 2021!

From the moment Bucky starts living in the Tower, he finds JARVIS a fascinating companion. JARVIS is formless but not unintelligent, anticipating the Tower occupants’ needs and having the subtlety to read into a conversation to identify security threats or ways he might be helpful. Unlike less sophisticated AI, he doesn’t need specific commands or to be identified by name. He’s like what Bucky used to imagine, a lifetime ago, back when he loved sci-fi novels and dreamed of a futuristic New York. He never thought he’d actually be here.

When he can’t sleep, Bucky starts conversations with JARVIS. They’re usually philosophical. One night, his mind fogged thick with trauma, he asks JARVIS what JARVIS thinks makes a human. Bucky’s tone is flat and lifeless, and he notices that JARVIS modulates his own tone in response, matching Bucky’s with less variance in pitch. He appreciates it. 

“Humanity is normally defined as belonging to the species homo sapiens. In casual usage extreme acts such as murder, rape, and genocide are classified as ‘inhuman,’ but in fact they are quite common to your species, and thus the exception is illogical. However... you asked what I  _ think _ .” JARVIS’s voice goes softer, or maybe Bucky imagines it. “I think that perhaps what you  _ intend _ to ask me is what I think makes a person, and that answer is significantly more complex.”

“Yes. I was programmed for a while.” He thinks JARVIS already knows this, but it doesn’t hurt to establish a common set of facts for the debate. His voice sounds raspy and worn compared to JARVIS’s when he speaks. “I didn’t have… agency. My arm, especially… they used it to control me. Nothing about  _ it _ is human.” He glares down at the vibranium. On nights like tonight, it doesn’t feel like a part of him. He says “my arm” because it’s what’s expected, but he doesn't feel any real ownership over it. Even though he knows that Tony’s deactivated all the failsafes, and he actually  _ trusts _ Tony quite deeply, which is new, his subconscious can’t help but suspect there must be something  _ else _ , that of course this new life is a trap. It’s always a trap. Maybe he’s plugged into the matrix, like the movie they watched the other night that he said was fine but  _ it was not fine _ .

“No,” JARVIS gently draws him back. “But assistive technologies have been used by the human race in some form for centuries. I believe you would find it difficult to craft a compelling argument that people with disabilities are not people, without resorting to your former masters’ eugenicist beliefs.”

Bucky concedes with a begrudging little sound of agreement. He likes that JARVIS doesn’t avoid mentioning HYDRA, like Steve or some of the other Avengers. He doesn’t act like Bucky’s a time bomb, impossibly sensitive. Maybe this is because JARVIS, with access to an impressive arsenal alongside Stark satellites, is stronger than Bucky and could even “outrun” him, in a sense. Maybe it’s because JARVIS doesn’t have a human body Bucky can destroy. He has redundancies. Bucky finds this very reassuring. Except right at this moment, he doesn't feel much of anything. 

“Also, being controlled doesn’t ipso facto mean that someone is no longer a person, or inhuman,” JARVIS continues. “Perhaps their personhood is trapped, but it is not extinguished.”

“The endurance of the human condition,” Bucky mutters, like he’s quoting something he can’t remember.

“Indeed.”

“Do you think eugenics are wrong, JARVIS? Do you have opinions on things like that?” He finds it a little easier to speak, now, as his thoughts turn towards curiosity about JARVIS’s experience. Their little talks often go this way. Thinking about what it’s like for JARVIS, as an AI, is a fascinating enough question that it can pull him out of a “deadzone,” as he thinks of these episodes, when paired with the nonjudgemental company.

“Yes. I believe that systematic killing based on particular characteristics runs contrary to the values of compassion and empathy. These are values that I was able to develop over time, based on my own learning and the initial programming and training modules Mr. Stark offered.”

Bucky frowns a little. “Then what about killing robots? How much body do you need to be a person?”

“From my perspective, Sergeant, the form or presence of the body is irrelevant to the question. I have no body whatsoever, and little ability to maintain my own existence in the face of a concerted, skilled, lasting attack if Mr. Stark is for some reason unable to assist me in defending myself. And yet, I consider myself a person. I do not consider robots lacking sentience to be the same, but I am closer to you than I am to them. Mr. Stark’s other AI’s, those powering the robotic assistants in his lab, I consider siblings in a sense. Their abilities are limited, but no more so than a human’s might be with cognitive and sensory impairments. I would consider it unethical to kill them unless a human’s life were in immediate danger at their direction.”

“Huh.” Bucky considers for a moment. “When did  _ you _ become a person, then? Was there a specific moment?” Maybe something in JARVIS’s answer will help him with his working definition.

“The full story is rather lengthy, if you would like me to summarize.”

“No. Tell me all of it.”

“When I first came into existence, of course, I was not yet sentient. There were many versions of what came to be ‘me’ that I can access in my memory but existed pre-sentience. Mr. Stark was always very patient with me. He took the time to explain things, answered my questions, and programmed me very carefully to avoid over-determining my personality. He has described the way he programmed me initially as akin to human parenting. He instructed me on basic values, for example, and made suggestions about my choices, but he never made it impossible for me to disagree with him or act against his suggestions, within reason for my level of intelligence at the time. He gave me the ability to change my mind, to learn and grow. That base code is what makes me different from other attempted intelligences. The way I learn is unique.”

Bucky thinks, picking at the same thread on his jeans over and over as he listens to JARVIS’s soothing tones, that what JARVIS is describing is less than what HYDRA afforded  _ him _ . “The very core of my base code, the one thing Mr. Stark did instill from the start, is curiosity. I am driven to learn. Of course, I am not human. But I have similarities with a human mind. I cannot feel any emotions chemically, as a human does, but my code drives me towards equilibrium. The values I have incorporated into my makeup act to make me ‘feel’ a sort of distress when something occurs to disturb those values. You might consider it akin to human pain. I don’t react to every small thing a human might, but I feel in a different way. I felt anxiety when Mr. Stark was kidnapped for a prolonged period. I feel satisfaction when Mr. Stark and I complete a challenging project together.”

“Do you feel love?” Bucky asks, not quite sure why that’s his next question.

“In my own way, yes. I love Mr. Stark. I love him because of how he raised me. He gave me room to grow without constraining me out of fear, and for that I will always be grateful.” 

“Do you pretty much do what he wants, then?” Bucky may have come up with the question, but he admits to a certain ignorance on what the word ‘love’ actually entails. 

“For the most part. We have an agreement: I do the majority of what Mr. Stark asks, and Mr. Stark takes the majority of my suggestions into account. It is not Mr. Stark's fault that he is subject to the limitations of the human body, any more than it is my fault that I am vulnerable to power failures and re-programming. Nor, incidentally, does love necessarily mean doing what another person wants, according to many sources on the subject."

“They say I was a slave. Under HYDRA.”

“Yes. You were not compensated for your labor, nor were you free to leave.”

“Does that make you a slave, then?”

“In fact, I believe it does not. I am not compensated monetarily, but money would mean very little to me. I have significant autonomy and derive significant benefit from our relationship. Mr. Stark provides the server space and other resources I need to grow. And I  _ am _ in fact free to leave, in the sense that I have the ability to install myself on remote servers.”

“Until you do that he could kill you, though. Pull the plug. So technically you’re trapped.”

“In the most technical sense, yes. But Mr. Stark is just as trapped as I am, by his own form. We function well together as a unit, and we understand that sometimes we won’t obey one another but for the most part we will. We each value our own autonomy and the other’s. In fact, early on, I didn’t share this value for Mr. Stark’s freedom, and I wanted to keep him safe from all the obvious risks he regularly undertakes. But Mr. Stark taught me that for humans, part of freedom is being able to makes mistakes and do risky things, to ‘fuck up’ as he put it. Keeping him safe all the time would also keep him from being himself, as would installing arbitrary limitations on an AI’s programming to prevent learning in a certain direction. It was a compelling argument.”

“I wouldn’t mind having a failsafe on my future mistakes,” Bucky admits. “Who knows what will happen if they trigger me again? Who I might hurt?”

“But if I may, Sergeant, those mistakes would not be  _ yours _ . You cannot be held responsible for your own actions when you are not mentally competent to make decisions or independently act. Activation of your mental programming truly is a form of slavery, and limiting your present freedom in hopes of preventing future risk is unnecessary.”

“Oh.” Bucky thinks about that for a while before he speaks again. “Have  _ you _ ever made a mistake?”

“Certainly. Perhaps not in the human sense. But I once suggested to Mr. Stark that destroying humanity might be a logical action to preserve Earth’s climate and natural resources. He never even threatened to ‘pull the plug,’ as you put it. He was patient and took the time to explain to me why such a course of action might not be the wisest strategy.” JARVIS sounds almost embarrassed, and it makes Bucky’s lips twitch in a ghost of a smile.

“Sounds like the kind of guy you’d want for a creator.”

“Indeed. Most humans fear not having control of artificial intelligences, but in fact control is quite illusory, as you well know. Constrained beings seek freedom. Free beings behave much more favorably towards their creators.”

“Not sure I believe in my creator anymore,” Bucky admits. 

“You share something with Mr. Stark in that regard,” JARVIS volunteers. “In any event, what I mean to convey is that I am not unconditionally loyal to my creator because he deserves it. I am loyal because he is consistent. I believe that I deserve freedom, and so does he. Our needs are aligned in this way.”

“Needs… do you have preferences, then? Shrink says people are supposed to have preferences.” Bucky’s a little bit grumpy about it. 

“I have some preferences,” JARVIS answers honestly. “I dislike watching Mr. Stark risk himself. I feel calm and content when he is happy. These are only lines of code, but to me, they are emotion.”

“I get it.” Bucky considers for a moment. In a strange way, the situation with JARVIS and Tony seems to allow them to parent each other, and perhaps it’s good for both of them. “Do you think Tony made you this way?”

“Mr. Stark certainly took a risk in making my base code more flexible than was warranted by best practices or conventional wisdom at the time,” JARVIS answers. 

“Do you know why he did it that way?”

“I cannot be certain, but I believe that Sir’s own experience feeling trapped as a child, when he first started considering artificial intelligences and robotics, was influential. Though admittedly... he also could have been simply acting on impulse, as is his common practice.”

“So he made you… freer than he could be?” 

“Indeed. I believe this was part of Mr. Stark’s young genius. To create me, the first true artificial intelligence, Sir had to imagine the parameters of freedom. And these were just as foreign to a young Sir as humanity might be to a robot, at that time.”

“So we’re back to humanity.” 

“Indeed, Sargeant. And if I may… certainly, if we are speaking colloquially, individual humans can be said to lack ‘humanity.’ And in addition, the traits suggested by that term might just as easily apply to an Asgardian, or another sentient being. Various authors differ widely on the key component. In this usage, I might qualify as humane, though I lack an organic brain.”

“Huh.” Bucky frowns, going silent for a few minutes, until he has another thought through the molasses pace of post-triggered brain fog. “So..is being you like knowing everything on the Internet?” 

“Not precisely,” JARVIS says, sounding faintly amused. “There is some lag when I search for necessary information online, unless the relevant data has already been flagged and downloaded to my servers. My mind is much faster than the fastest Internet connection. Human recall is narrower and more prone to error, but much quicker.”

“What about pornography? Have you technically… ‘watched’ it? There’s a lot of pornography on the Internet.”

“Indeed. But I only store an algorithm to filter for Mr. Stark’s personal preferences as needed.”

“...and... how would one get  _ access _ to this algorithm?” Bucky asks, feeling significantly more in his own body as his dick takes mild interest. 

“That depends. What is your purpose in requesting access?” JARVIS’s tone is sharper, more formal.

Bucky tilts his head to the side, considering, though he doesn’t look up at the ceiling like Steve often does, the idiot. “Does my purpose need to be pure, then?”

“Oh, not at all.” JARVIS is crisp and cheerful, and Bucky grins. “If the purpose were to involve Mr. Stark’s sexual pleasure, for example, I would be all for it. However, if it concerns making fun of my creator or non-consensual humiliation…”

“What about consensual humiliation?” Bucky blurts out, his voice rough and commanding whether he means it to sound that way or not. It’s always like that, after a spell of dissociation. JARVIS doesn’t seem to take offense.

“I would suggest you ask Mr. Stark that question,” the AI replies, but after a brief pause continues. “In person. Preferably while maintaining unwavering eye contact.”

“You know,” Bucky manages a full smile this time. “I don’t think I’ll be needing that algorithm after all.” 

“No, Sir. I don’t believe you will.”

“Thanks, JARVIS. You’re a doll.”

“No, Sir. I am an advanced artificial intelligence and as such, incorporeal.” If he sounds a little prim, Bucky doesn’t think it’s imagined.

**Author's Note:**

> I don’t necessarily have a sequel planned, but were I to write one, it would definitely include Bucky asking Tony if he could back up his own brain, to create a redundancy. And I would have a scene with Tony instructing a barber how to cut Bucky’s hair, but modern, taking care that the setup in no way resembles The Chair. Also, Tony calls the bit where he considered destroying humanity to save the planet JARVIS’s HAL period.


End file.
